Leo's Little Roar
by Roniturtle
Summary: Seven year old Leonardo, along with his brother Mikey, go into the sewer to play a game of 'Lion' and learns what it means to be brave. Brotherly fluff at the end. Leonardo, Michelangelo.


Leo's Little Roar.

 _"After the death of the Nemean Lion, the Goddess Hera took pity on the beautiful creature and immortalized him forever in the stars, thus creating the Constellation known as Leo the Lion."_

Splinter placed his book down and looked at the small seven year old turtle staring up at him in awe. After coming home from his junk yard run, he surprised his turtles with a book on Greek Mythology. In one chapter, he discovered the legends of the constellations and how they came to be. Although his other sons did not seem too interested, he had quickly grabbed his oldest attention when he read about the 'Leo the Lion' constellation.

"Wow," Leo breathed out after Splinter finished reading. "So I'm named after a lion?" He said excitedly.

Splinter chuckled, "No my son, technically you are named after an artist, but your name Leonardo is derived partly from the name Leo which _means_ Lion."

"Wow," Suddenly Leo jumped off the couch and got on all fours and began to hop around, "I need to go tell the guys this, I can't believe I'm part lion!"

Splinter shook his head, "No Leonardo," He attempted again, "Only your name…." But before Splinter could continue, Leonardo took off hopping toward the bedrooms. Splinter sighed and, laughing softly to himself, walked toward the dojo to meditate.

Leo, still on all fours, hopped his way toward the room where his three brothers were currently sitting on the floor with their own books. He hopped in and took a deep breath. "ROAR!" His brothers looked up at him in bewilderment.

"ROAR!" Leo yelled again.

"What are you doing Leo?" Donnie asked, turning the page of his math book.

Mikey looked up from his coloring book, "Are you playing jungle cat?" he asked with a giggle, "Can I play too,"

Leo stood up tall, "I'm not a jungle cat; I'm a lion!" He declared proudly. He got back on all fours and let another roar.

"No, you're annoyin'!" Raph retorted going back to his comic book.

"How can you be a lion?" Donnie asked, putting down the math book he'd been working in. "You're a turtle, and turtles are cold blooded creatures whereas lions are warm blooded and…."

"Oh, enough already!" Raph yelled at him, "He's not a lion, he's just pretending."

"Can I play 'lion' with you Leo?" Mikey asked, jumping up from the floor and getting on all fours like his brother.

Leo smiled proudly, "Sure Mikey," he said as the two hopped out of the room.

They ran through the lair, playing and laughing, hopping up and down on the furniture and creating quite a ruckus. Splinter poked his head out of the dojo and frowned, "Why don't you two find someplace else to play," He told them.

Leo stopped and looked at him with excited eyes, "Can we play in the sewers sensei?"

"Yes, but stay close to home," Splinter cautioned, "And don't be gone too long, it is almost time for bed."

"Yes Sensei," the two hopping turtles chorused and ran out to play.

Mikey bounded happily after his oldest brother, it was not often the two played together, for the most part; Leo usually played with either all his brothers at the same time or stayed in the dojo working on his ninjutsu. Now here they were, just the two of them running through the sewers, jumping from pipe to pipe, laughing, roaring and having a great time.

As the two turtles made their way through the sewers having a wonderful time pretending to be lions, neither noticed they had wandered a little too far away from the lair and it wasn't until Mikey stopped to take a breather that he realized they were further away then what they should be.

"Uh Leo?" Mikey stood and looked around the area apprehensively.

"Roar!" Leo laughed then noticed Mikey's uncertain look, "What's the matter Mikey?" He asked standing up.

"I don't recognize where we are."

Leo looked around and realized they had wandered down an unfamiliar tunnel, "No worries Mikey," He told him in a brave voice, "We're lions and we know how to get home." He looked around and pointed behind him, "Let's go this way, back the way we came."

They had just started to retrace their steps when loud voices could be heard in the tunnel behind them. Leo stopped and turned back toward the tunnel. "Hold up Mikey." Leo said as he crept closer toward the opening of the other tunnel. "It sounds like someone else is down here."

The two turtles looked around the other tunnel cautiously; watching as a light from the other end could be seen swinging back and forth while loud voices echoed throughout the tunnel. To the turtles, it sounded as though the voices were arguing.

"Oh no," Mikey whispered fearfully, "Humans." He grabbed onto his brother's arm and attempted to pull him further into the tunnel toward home. "Come on Leo," He begged anxiously but Leo refused to move.

"Just wait Mikey," He told him, "Let's see what they're up to."

"They're probably just sewer workers Leo," Mikey said, backing away from his brother, "Let's get out of here before we're seen."

Leo slowly began to move, "Okay Mikey," he said, his attention still focused on the other tunnel and the two men walking closer to their hiding spot.

Mikey let go of Leo's arm and turned quickly away from his brother. He was in such a hurry to get away from the humans, he forgot to watch where he was going and ended up smacking into a pipe jutting out from the wall. Leo turned in time to see his brother hit his head and fall to the ground unconscious.

"Oh no, Mikey," Leo whispered anxiously. He ran to his brother and shook his arm. "Mikey wake up," He begged. He looked up as the voices came closer.

"I'm telling you Jim," One voice was saying, "Lisa threw the ring down the sewer and I'm pretty sure it was around here."

"And I'm telling _you_ Scott, we're lost!" The human named Jim yelled. "Why I let you talk me into coming down to the sewers just to look for a ring you're ex threw away is beyond me."

"Hold up," Scott said, "Did you hear something?"

'Oh, come on Mikey,' Leo implored silently while attempting to drag his unconscious brother, 'Wake up,' He looked up fearfully as the humans came closer to them. 'I can't let the humans find us and I can't leave you here alone to get help either.' Leo looked around desperately trying to find some place or something that would allow him to hide the two of them or maybe even protect them from the two approaching humans, but aside from small pipes fused to the wall, he could find nothing.

"I didn't hear anything," Jim stated. "We're in a sewer, you probably just heard rats."

"Rats don't make grunting sounds or…..whoa, what the hell is that thing!" Leo looked up in horror when a tall, lanky man of about thirty with dark hair and a scruffy beard stop suddenly several feet in front of him as he came into view.

"I don't believe it," the other human, also around thirty, rather short and slightly over-weight with a balding head walked around the first human and stared in shock at the sight of the two mutant turtles.

There was no time to think, the two had been discovered and Leo decided the only thing to do was to protect his baby brother at all cost. He got on all fours and took a deep breath.

"ROAR!" He screamed as loud as possible.

The two humans looked at each other with stunned expressions before looking back at Leo. "Aw, isn't that cute," The human named Jim said coming closer to the turtles. "This little whatever it is thinks it can scare us away."

"What do you think this thing is anyway?" The other human named Scott wondered as he watched his partner walk toward the turtles.

"Don't know," Jim replied as he continued toward the two turtles, "It looks like a strange turtle but maybe it's a hybrid of some sort that some scientist created by crossing a turtle with a cat!"

"Possible," Scott replied dubiously, "Don't get too close, it may have rabies or something like that."

"I don't care," Jim replied reaching his hand out toward Leo, "Maybe if we catch them, we can get money for them." He got a greedy look in his eyes, "Maybe even get millions of dollars for them."

Leo again took a deep breath, "ROAR!" He screamed again then snapped his mouth at the man trying to grab him.

"Watch it Jim," Scott warned as Jim backed away from the attempted bite, "Don't let that thing bite you."

"It'll be worth it if we can catch them and bring them to someone who will give us money for them." Jim said greedily.

Leo moved himself closer to Mikey keeping a protective stance in front of him. He was determined not to let these humans take either of them away from their home. But how much longer could he keep them from trying. Eventually, they would do what they could to get around him and then what? Leo could think of dozens of things they might do but the one thing that frightened him the most was he and his brother being taken from their home and never seeing their family, or possibly each other, again.

"Quick Scott," Jim said motioning behind him, "Give me your jacket, I'll throw it over this one and we can tie him up."

Leo felt his heart pounding in his ears at that statement, he gritted his teeth and took a huge deep breath and with all his might, let out as loud and as long a roar as possible.

 **"ROOOAAAR!"**

Leo watched as the two men suddenly paled and began to back away in fear. They let out a loud scream and scrambled away from the turtle as quickly as possible, stumbling over each other to get away.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?!" Leo heard the human Scott yell out.

"I DON'T KNOW AND I DON'T WANT TO FIND OUT!" Jim screamed back as Leo watched with a smile of satisfaction on his face as the two humans ran away from him in fear.

Leo stood tall and placed his little fist on his hips, he nodded his head sharply, "Severs them right," he muttered and let out a low chuckle. A low moan behind him had him turning around; he quickly made his way to his brother's side. "Mikey?" Leo shook Mikey's arm, "Can you hear me; are you okay?"

Mikey opened his eyes and gave Leo a weak smile, "I'm okay but my head is killing me bro." Leo helped him sit up, "Where are the humans?"

Leo smiled widely at him, "I scared them off!" He declared proudly and got on all fours again and let out a small roar. Mikey smiled at him then winced as the throbbing in his head increased to a dull pounding. Leo helped him stand and the two slowly walked back to their home.

When the two turtles arrived at the lair, they were immediately greeted by Donnie and Raph, "Where have you two been?" Donnie demanded.

"And what happened to Mikey?" Raph demanded when he saw his little brother with a large bump on his head. He assisted Leo in getting Mikey over to the couch.

"I too would like to know what happened, Leonardo."

Leo turned to his sensei walking up behind him and over to where Mikey now laid on the couch. He placed his paw on his youngest son's head then looked over at Leo with an expectant look in his eyes. "Well?"

With a dejected sigh, Leo sat down on the couch and went into the story of what happened since leaving the lair, when he was done, Splinter shook his head at him in disappointment, he then stood and picked Mikey up in his arms and brought him to his room. Leo sat on the couch with his brothers, waiting to see what would happen when his father returned. After he had explained everything, it had decided, since he did not come home when he heard the humans, it was his fault that Mikey had gotten hurt and that they had been discovered.

"Why didn't I leave when I heard their voices?" He chastised himself. "None of this would have happened if I had just followed Mikey out of the tunnel when he begged me to go home."

"True," Donnie told him, "But in all fairness Leo, I probably would have done the same thing."

"You would?" Leo looked at his taller brother in surprise.

"Or course," Donnie smiled at him smugly, "I would love to have a chance to study a human up close."

"I knew it," Raph muttered causing the other two to look at him questioningly. " **All** my brothers are morons."

"Hey!" The other two yelled.

"Are you saying that if you ran into a human you wouldn't want to check one out?" Donnie asked.

Raph crossed his arms and looked smugly at Leo; he knew how to push his brother's buttons and took every opportunity, "Not if I knew one of my brothers were hurt."

Leo lowered his eyes and nodded, "He's right Don," He muttered, "I should know better."

The three sat silently for a few minutes until Donnie snapped his fingers, "Hey, wait a minute Leo," Donnie looked at his oldest brother excitedly, "Didn't you say something about the humans were in the tunnel looking for a lost ring?"

"Yes, but they weren't sure where it was," He replied, "Why?"

Raph suddenly got an excited look in his eyes, "We could go on a treasure hunt and look for it!" He exclaimed jumping up and down, "Once Mikey is better of course," He added quickly.

"Any excursions out of the lair will have to wait till we are certain the humans will not return." A loud and disapproving voice stated from behind them.

The three turtles turned to see Splinter coming out of the hallway, "Michelangelo will be fine," He informed them, "He just needs to rest." He looked from one son to the other, "Raphael and Donatello; go and get ready for bed." He instructed them, he waited till the two had left before turning his attention to Leo.

"I would like to speak with you in the dojo my son," He told him walking toward the room, Leo followed behind with his head hung low and tears stinging his eyes, he knew he was in trouble and was certain his father had a long lecture as well as a long list of chores for him to do.

Splinter stood tall and watched as the seven year old turtle walked slowly toward the tree and plopped himself down under it, his eyes kept looking down but Splinter could see he was giving him his full attention.

"I understand your curiosity in humans, Leonardo, but you do realize you put yourself and your brother in great risk by choosing to stay and watch them," He stroked his long whisker as he spoke, "Regardless of the reasons you choose to stay, you should have returned to lair the moment you knew they were in the tunnel."

"Yes Sensei," Leo responded, "I understand I did a foolish thing and Mikey and I almost paid the price for my curiosity."

Splinter waited to see if Leonardo would give any kind of excuse for what he had done but when he did not Splinter continued, "Tell me Leonardo, do you know what a group of lions are called?"

Leo shrugged, "Um…I'm not sure."

"They are called a pride," Splinter told him, "And they are called that because humans see them as proud animals that fight to protect what they have," He placed a paw on the turtle's shoulder, "As you did today," He smiled down at Leo when the turtle looked up at him. "Although I am disappointed in your foolishness, I am proud of your bravery."

Leo nodded and gave him a small smile, "Thank you Sensei." He said humbly before looking back at him, "So are you going to give me a punishment?" He asked with an innocent smile.

Splinter stroked his long beard, "It is late, I will meditate on the matter and let you know tomorrow," He told him, "So go wash up and get to bed." Leo stood and bowed to him. He had started to leave when Splinter called out to him, "Oh, and Michelangelo would like to see you before you go to bed my son."

"Yes father," Leo responded.

Splinter stroked his long beard in contemplation as he watched his son walk out of the dojo, his mind thinking back on all that he had seen this day.

Leo, meanwhile, walked down the steps of the dojo and toward the bathroom. He sighed heavily as his mind wondered about the punishment his father was going to come up with, he hated waiting but, he reminded himself, at least he was able to still sit.

After washing his face and brushing his teeth, Leo walked toward Mikey's room and peaked in. His little brother seemed to be asleep so he softly crept into the room to give his brother's head a little petting. A way of reassuring himself that Mikey was okay. But as he reached out to put his hand on Mikey's head, Mikey opened his eyes and in a flash, his hand reached out and poked Leo's nose.

"Beeb," Mikey said with a giggle. "I wasn't asleep bro," He told him as Leo rubbed his beak, "I heard you coming and was just _pretending_ to sleep."

Leo chuckled and shook his head at his little brother's antics, "Okay Mikey, you got me." He said, than looked away with a guilty expression. "Look Mikey, I just wanted to say sorry for what happened today, I should have just left when we heard the humans coming."

"It's okay Leo," Mikey told him as Leo brought him into a hug, "I shouldn't have panicked the way I did, then I wouldn't have gotten hurt and knocked myself out." Mikey nuzzled himself against his brother's chest and wrapped his arms around his neck, "I wish I could be brave like you Leo," He whispered, "You weren't scared of those humans, you wanted to watch them and see what they were up to," He yawned, "I just wanted to run away."

Leo smiled as he thought back to what had happened and how scared he had felt when the men talked about taking them away and giving them to scientist for money. But he decided he would not tell Mikey, it felt good to know his little brother looked up to him. "Thanks Mikey," He told him as he attempted to get out of his brother's hug.

But Mikey's arms held fast around his brother's neck. "Uh, Mikey," Leo said as he tried to push his brother away, "You can let go of me now."

"Nope," Mikey responded with a tired giggle, "I demanded snuggles!"

Leo sighed and patted Mikey's arm, "Okay little brother; scoot over." He wrapped his arms around Mikey and the two fell fast asleep.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile, Jim and Scott ran out of the sewer in a mad dash. When they had gotten far enough away, they stopped to catch their breath and looked at each other with eyes wide with fear. "Did you see that thing?" Jim asked.

"I did but what the hell was it?" Scott replied.

"I don't know, but it was big and brown and looked like it had the face of a giant rat!" Jim took a breath and the two started walking, "Ring or no ring, I am **never** going back in those sewers again!"

"Amen to that brother," Scott replied, "amen to that!"

~The End~

I couldn't resist doing a story like this, I love mythology and the Leo the lion constellation is one of my favorites even if the story behind the legend is rather tragic. But I guess that's another reason why Leo is my favorite turtle. Please R&R. J Peace.

For those of you celebrating Columbus day, have a safe and happy one.


End file.
